Established 1664 Enrollment 250 District Hadley School District Color Gold and White | Principal Brian Beck Phone +1 413-584-1106 Mascot Golden Hawks | |
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Average SAT scores 545 verbal
556 math
524 writing
1625 total (2015-2016) Website hadleyschools.org/hopkins.htm Address 131 Russell St, Hadley, MA 01035, USA Similar Smith Academy, Northamp High School, South Hadley High Sch, Pelham Elementary School, Amherst Regional High Sch | ||
Hopkins academy boys basketball loses state semifinal in overtime
Hopkins Academy is the public middle (7th and 8th grade) and senior (9th–12th grade) high school for the town of Hadley, Massachusetts.
Contents
2015 hopkins academy graduation
Founding
The school was founded in 1664 with an endowment from a wealthy Connecticut merchant, Edward Hopkins. Hopkins died in 1657 and in his will he set up a trust naming John Davenport, Theophilus Eaton, John Cullick and William Goodwin as trustees. Goodwin, who helped to settle Hadley, used part of Hopkins' trust to set up a fund for the then Hopkins Donation School. 300 Pounds were to be disposed of from Mr. Hopkins Estate and ordered to Hadley for erecting and maintaining a schoole there. The management thereof for the said schoole was appointed for year end viz; the Rev Jonathan Russell, Mr. Samuel Smith, Mr. Peter Tilton and Capt Aaron Cooke and finding in the records at Springfield, September 24th 1674. The Hadley townspeople donated land to help build up the trust to pay for educational costs. The Hopkins Trust is the oldest charitable fund to be in continuous use in the United States. Edward Hopkins played a pivotal role in establishing and operating other prominent institutions within the United States, including Harvard University. As a result, Hopkins Academy is "related" to many well-known schools, including Yale, Amherst College, and the Hopkins School of New Haven, Connecticut.
The academy incorporated in 1816. For many years, Hopkins Academy was a private school, however, it has been the only public high school in Hadley for many decades. It is also the fourth oldest public high school in the United States that is still in operation.
Academics
Since the inception of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), Hopkins Academy has consistently scored among the top schools in Massachusetts. In 2008, The Boston Globe ranked Hopkins' 10th graders (under the title "Hadley Public Schools") 2nd in mathematics and tied for 33rd in ELA in the state of Massachusetts. The school maintains a particular strength in mathematics, despite not having a specialized math program or an accelerated student population (such as the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI). In fact, Hopkins' 10th graders have scored near-perfect MCAS composite performance index (CPI) ratings for math in the past (99.4 in 2007).
This success is generally attributed to small learning communities which yield a low student to teacher ratio. Many of Hopkins' graduates pursue 4-year degrees at prominent universities throughout the United States.
In January 2010, US News & World Report gave Hopkins a Bronze Medal on its list of the Top High Schools in America. Thirty-seven Massachusetts high schools made the list, but Hopkins was one of only two (along with Greenfield High School) located geographically west of Worcester.
Despite above average MCAS scores, the school did not meet state mandated targets for equal education. The school met targets for the "White" and "Low Income" demographics, but failed to achieve the target in other areas.
Athletics and extracurricular activities
The school offers many sports, such as the booster club, soccer, basketball, cheerleading, baseball, softball, golf and equestrian teams; all of which compete in the MIAA Division Hampshire League. Hopkins' athletic rival is Smith Academy in nearby Hatfield, Massachusetts. Hopkins also has a music program comprising a marching band, pep band, and jazz band.